Islamic State launches first successful attack in Malaysia

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A general view of the site of a grenade attack at a restaurant in Puchong district outside of Kuala Lumpur on June 28.

Story highlights

Malaysian police say a bombing at a nightclub last month is the work of the Islamic State

Fifteen people arrested in the wake of the attack, including the bombers

(CNN)Malaysian police say the Islamic State has carried out its first successful attack in the country.

Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar told CNN that a grenade attack on June 28 at a nightspot near Kuala Lumpur, the country's capital, was carried out on the orders of a Malaysian Islamic State fighter in Syria, Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi.

While there were no fatalities in the attack, eight people were injured. Most of the people at the nightclub, called Movida, were there to watch the Spain-Italy Euro 2016 match.

Malaysian forensic experts inspect the site of grenade attack at Movida.

Khalid said 15 people have been arrested in wake of the attack, including the two men who lobbed the bomb at Movida. Those arrested also included two policemen.

"One of the policemen was picked up for harboring ISIS elements, while the other was arrested for involvement in robberies to collect funds for ISIS," he told CNN.

Khalid, who declined to release more details, said investigations are ongoing and that police expect to make more arrests.

The police had initially ruled out terrorism as the reason for the attack on Movida, believing instead that the motive was a business rivalry or a dispute among patrons. However, Muhammad Wanndy later claimed on Facebook that the attack had been carried out by ISIS followers.

The Malaysian police have foiled nine ISIS plots to attack Malaysia since the declaration of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

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Andrin Raj, regional director of International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals Center for Security Studies Southeast Asia, told CNN that threats against the country will continue.

"The modus operandi will be suicide attacks as well as explosive/IED attacks as it is easier to conduct an attack and difficult to prevent," he said.

Raj added that while police are calling it ISIS operations in the sense that it has been given approval and authority by ISIS, the terror group's presence has not yet fully developed into actual ISIS cells.

"As of now, they are sympathizers. But the fact is, this will eventually grow into ISIS cells," he said.